The Probert Encyclopaedia of Nature

GROUSE

The grouse is a fowl like bird common in North America and north Europe of the family Tetraonidae whose distinguishing mark is a naked band, often of a red colour, in place of an eyebrow. They are wild, shy and almost untameable living in families in forests and barren regions and feeding on berries, buds and leaves. They are polygamous, the male abandoning the female, and leaving to her the whole care of the progeny. The eggs number eight to fourteen. The largest species is the capercailzie or wood grouse. Other British species are the black grouse, the red grouse, commonly called simply the grouse, and the white grouse or ptarmigan.

The black grouse (Tetrao tetrix) is about the size of a common fowl. The male has the outer feathers of the tail curved outwards, so that the tail is lyre-shaped. It chiefly lives in high and wooded situations, feeding on various kinds of berries. The female is commonly called gray hen. To this genus belong several species peculiar to North America, the most remarkable of which is the pinnated grouse or prairie hen (Tetrao cupido), which inhabits open desert plains in particular districts of the Union. The male is furnished with wing-like appendages to his neck, covering two loose, orange sacs, capable of being inflated. Another species is the cock of the plains.

The grouse with hairy feet and which undergo seasonal change of plumage form the genus Lagopus. Of these the red grouse (Lagopus scoticus) is the most important. This bird, also called the moor fowl, is found in the Highlands of Scotland, also in Wales, the north of England, Ireland, and the Scottish islands. It pairs in the spring; the female lays eight or ten eggs. As soon as the young have attained their full size they unite in flocks of forty or fifty, and are extremely shy and wild. This bird attracts large numbers of sportsmen every August to the Scottish moors to take part in the grand sporting campaign which follows 'the twelfth.' The ptarmigan or white grouse (Lagopus mutus or vulgaris) is. ash-coloured in summer but its hue changes to a pure white in winter. It is found in Scotland and in the most northern regions, imhabiting the tops of mountains.
Research Grouse